Everyone has heard the advice to not use your smartphone before going to sleep\u2014and many of us have ignored it. In fact, you might be reading this very article while in bed. If that\u2019s the case, it might come in handy next time someone nags you about your sleep hygiene.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because a study<\/a> published this summer in the journal Sleep Health suggests that adults\u2019 nightly bedtime screen use might not be as detrimental to sleep as previously believed. While further research is needed to confirm these unexpected results, the study highlights the enduring uncertainty about the consequences of our smartphone addictions.<\/p>\n Bedtime screen use <\/p>\n The researchers investigated the self-reported bedtime screen use (using screens in bed or within an hour of bedtime) and sleep health of over 1,000 adults in Canada. More than 80% reported being on screens during bedtime in the past month, and almost half reported bedtime screen use every night. Researchers classified the participants into three types of bedtime screen users: occasional (less than once a week), moderate (one to four times a week), and regular (5 or more times a week).<\/p>\n Notably, \u201cafter accounting for biological sex, age, and income, both occasional and regular screen users reported the best overall sleep health,\u201d the team wrote in the study. Occasional bedtime screen users had the highest sleep regularity and sleep satisfaction, and regular bedtime screen users had the best sleep timing and daytime alertness. Moderate users reported the worst sleep health.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that participants\u2019 self-reported claims about sleep health might not be as accurate as researchers physically tracking their sleep in a lab. Nonetheless, these results seem to challenge findings from previous studies. For example, in a 2021 paper<\/a>, researchers write that \u201cscreen exposure, especially near bedtime, directly leads to poor sleep quality.\u201d A 2023 paper<\/a> on medical students in Egypt reported a remarkably greater occurrence of poor sleep quality among smartphone users at bedtime. A 2022 study<\/a> explains that smartphone screens emit blue light, which can impact sleep quality.<\/p>\n